Jun 25 Minmin | みんみんラーメン 本店

Style: Hachioji-style ShoyuBowl to Crush: Ramen | ラーメン

Minmin serves traditional Hachioji-style ramen: dark shoyu soup and thin noodles topped with delicate slices of chashu and diced onions. This style is popular throughout west Tokyo, where Hachioji is located. Quite similar to traditional Tokyo shoyu ramen, Hachioji-style is light, simple and homey. For many Tokyo eaters, Hachioji ramen is a quick meal that can be eaten anytime, almost like miso soup. To stand out from the pack, the soup, noodles and balance in a Hachioji bowl need to be ridiculously on-point. Minmin is among the most well known and one of the best, open since 1982 and with close ties to another legendary Hachioji-style shop, Tantan.

Minmin is about 15-20 minutes by bus from Hachioji station, which sits about an hour west of Shinjuku by express train. Nestled deep in a quiet local neighborhood, yet still technically in Tokyo, the shop has a historic, old-school vibe. It appears to have been operating out of the same location for decades and most of the regular customers are middle-aged and up. Frankly, the shop is a dump – in the best authentic Tokyo ramen experience kind of way. We fucking love it. The retro atmosphere only adds to the eating experience. And the standard bowl of ramen costs an unbeatable 480 yen (about $4).

Hachioji is a ramen mecca. Unfortunately, many of the best shops aren’t within walking distance of a train station. This is a ramen frontier in need of further exploring.